


this is my home (you are my home)

by independentalto



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, let's assume everything's....happened, where in canon does this actually take place? i don't know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:14:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25216054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/independentalto/pseuds/independentalto
Summary: Daniel and Daisy get locked in a shed with no way out. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on who you asked) it's stocked with board games.
Relationships: Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa
Comments: 16
Kudos: 154





	this is my home (you are my home)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [agentmmayy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentmmayy/gifts).



> from the prompt "we're locked in a fucking shed, and there's no one here to get us out".

In all hindsight, she probably should've seen this coming. 

_SLAM_. "Hey!" Daniel yelled, banging on the door when his attempts to open it were unfounded. "Is anyone out there? Hey!" More loud banging. "Anyone?!" 

"It's gonna be a while before they notice we're gone," Daisy reminded him, sighing. May was going to have a field day when they found them -- she could already hear the lecture ringing in her ears. 

_"You went into an enclosed space without securing your exits? What's literally the first thing I taught you, Daisy? Never go into an enclosed space without securing your exits. Especially if there's only one!"_

It'd been an innocent-looking enough space -- a lone shed on a vast abandoned property they'd been investigating, supposedly a hit for a pod of Chronicom hunters -- and by the time she'd turned around to make sure their exit was still viable, the door had already slammed shut and plunged them into complete darkness. 

"Great," Daniel groused, echoing her sigh. "We're locked in a fucking shed and there's no one to let us out. There's not even any goddamn windows. Who built this thing, anyway?" 

Daisy shrugged before realizing he probably couldn't see her. "Your guess is as good as mine. Could be aliens. Could be a doomsday prepper." 

"Or it could be an idiot that didn't know how to build a shed," he muttered, and the tension radiating off of him was thick. "We should see if there's any light sources in here. I'd rather not go for probable hours without being able to see." 

"Wait, hold on," she said, holding a hand out before once again realizing he wouldn't be able to see it. "I can probably make out the shape of this room. Save us the trouble of bumping into everything." 

Even in the dark, Daniel's confusion was evident. "What do you mean?" As far as he was concerned, her powers allowed her to emit seismic waves. That was it. There was nothing about -- about goddamned _echolocation_ or whatever it was. "I thought your power was quakes." 

"Not quite," Daisy said grimly, and he could hear her footsteps around the shed. "I can manipulate the vibrations of everything around me," she explained, her voice waxing and waning with her walk. "Quaking someone is when I manipulate the way the air vibrates, and it's basically bending it in the direction I want it to." 

"So in theory, you could quake us out of this shed?" It'd probably save them the time and humiliation of having to be rescued by the rest of SHIELD. "You could bend the vibrations of...whatever this shed's made of and blow a hole in it?" 

"Yeah, but I'd rather not," There was a _click_ , and suddenly, Daisy was standing a few feet from him, blinking harshly in the sudden light. "There's no telling what whoever built this did to it. Could've walked into a trap for all we know." 

"You seem pretty calm for someone who might've walked into a trap." 

"I could say the same for you," she countered, raising an eyebrow. "And besides, the elements of a trap haven't changed over the years. Once someone decided a good trap needed an ominous countdown, _everyone_ decided their traps needed an ominous countdown. And I don't see one." 

He had to admit, she made a good point. The big countdown _had_ been a recurring theme in every movie they'd made him watch in their attempt to familiarize him with modern pop culture. That there wasn't one now was probably a good sign. 

That, and the shed they were in looked more like a small house. A practically miniature kitchen took up the rear left corner, a counter and stovetop framing the wall while accompanying a sturdy wooden table. A worn leather couch and coffee table sat to his right, the former facing a TV stand without a television; rather, it held a whiteboard propped up on a stand. Frowning, Daniel turned to see a set of stairs. Was there a _second level_ to this shed?

He turned back to Daisy, who shrugged. "What are the odds we walked into a doomsday prepper's shed?" 

"Honestly, because this thing's fully furnished and there's a stack of board games in the corner, I'd say pretty fair." She walked over to a mahogany bookshelf in the corner next to the stairs, examining the stack of games with a critical eye. 

"Hey, Sousa, how many of these have you played?"

* * *

"I just don't see the point in it! You smack the hippo, the hippo eats the ball, you repeat. What are you supposed to get from that?" 

"It's about the _satisfaction_ of being the hungriest hippo. It's also about being able to take all of your rage out on the tiny lever, but I digress."

* * *

"You'd better not be rigging the dice on me, Johnson." 

"Who, me?" Daniel eyed her as he popped the bubble in the middle of the board, watching the dice as it landed solidly on a 6 before rolling languidly over to a 2. 

"Ha!" he pointed, and she sighed dramatically before righting the dice. "I knew you were cheating. As a matter of fact --" He narrowed his eyes as a memory from the last hour flashed through his mind. "You tipped the Jenga tower on me on _purpose_ , didn't you?" 

As it was, Daisy simply just smirked. "It's _Trouble_ , Agent Sousa. You can't not expect me to cause any in a game that's just named for it. And as for the Jenga, well." She held his gaze as she popped the bubble, chuckling when he swallowed hard. "Sometimes you have to put a chain of events into motion yourself if you ever want to get to where you're going."

* * *

"Does my character have...red hair?" 

"The drapes do _not_ match the carpet, Agent Sousa. Guess again." 

" _What_?" Frowning, he flipped down the last photo cover on his board. "That's all of my persons!" 

Daisy's grin was triumphant. "Guess you'll just have to flip them all back up and start over then, won't you?" 

He scowled. "I think I hate this game the most."

* * *

"Ooh, check this out. I found a copy of 'The 36 Questions That Lead To Love." Daniel, who'd been raiding the fridge, peered behind him to see Daisy holding up a sheaf of paper from her spot at the coffee table. "You find any beer in there?" 

"No beer, unfortunately, but I did find a couple of bottles of some weird barrel-shaped drinks." As soon as the word 'barrel' left his mouth, Daisy's eyes lit up and she hurried over to the fridge. 

"Little Hug barrels!" she exclaimed, grabbing one off of the shelf. "This stuff was the shit back when I was younger." Off came the foil as if it was second nature, Daisy knocking the barrel back like it was a shot. "Once, I had a family that packed these into my lunch box every single day of the week. Didn't last too long, though, they had to send me back after like, a month." The first barrel was drained and discarded of, and she was eagerly reaching for a second when Daniel stopped her. 

"What do you mean, they had to send you back after a month?" 

Daisy paused for a moment before de-foiling yet another barrel; this time, however, she found the patience to sip at it. "I promise I'll answer that question for you in due time," she said, voice slightly tight. "But in the meantime --" She held up the sheaf of paper. "We could write down the questions on a pack of index cards I found and tape them to the wall? Each one of us picks one and we both have to answer it?" 

"Unless you have a better way to pass the time," Daniel shrugged but made a move to grasp Daisy's shoulder as she turned. "I'm here for you," he said quietly, and he could feel the slight slump in her posture. "If you ever want to talk about it. I know it was when you were a kid, but there are some things we never truly process. You deserve that process." 

She smiled, the edges of it just barely reaching her eyes before fading. "I've made a fairly good job at shoving it down and it's not fair to you for me to loosen _that_ bad boy. It'll probably come with every other messed-up event that's happened in my lifetime, and if it doesn't make you want to go to therapy, you're a real psychopath, lemme tell you." 

He shrugged. "Doesn't mean I don't still want to learn about you."

* * *

"Okay, first question," Daniel proclaimed, picking an index card off of the wall and flipping it over. They'd lined the wall with index cards, all of them facing down so that neither of them would know which was which. "When was the last time you sang to yourself? To someone else?" 

"Easy," Daisy said flippantly. "Last time I sang to myself: this morning when I made May tea before tai chi." The nice thing about morning tai chi was that it didn't require emotions to execute; even though the pilot hadn't specifically stated that their sessions were to resume, Daisy'd shown up anyways, thermos in hand. And when she'd handed it over, she'd held May's hand just a second longer, wanting to root in the touch her intent on simply _being there_ \-- if showing up at the crack of dawn with a thermos of piping hot tea was all she could do, she would damn well do it. 

"And the last time you sang to someone else?" Daniel raised an eyebrow, and at that, she squirmed a little. Technically, it hadn't been to someone _else_ , per se, because the last person had been Daniel himself...only unconscious, after he'd wound up in medical following a close call. She couldn't explain what'd possessed her to, only that she'd found herself camping out by his bedside so that he'd have someone to wake up to. He'd done it after she'd been de-powered and strung out by Nathaniel Malick, it was only fair she did the same. 

"Deke, after he got caught trying to mess with Elena's arms," she said instead, turning a head a fraction of an inch so she didn't have to look Daniel in the eyes. "Sang him a couple of bars of "Busted" from _Phineas and Ferb_." When the inquiring look turned confused, Daisy shook her head. "I'll show you the show when we get back to Z1." 

His gaze was still examining her too closely than she would've liked, so she plucked another card off of the wall, hoping to change the topic. "If you were to live to the age of 90 and have the mind or body of a 30-year-old in the last 60 years of your life, which one would you want and why?"

Daniel snorted, and for the moment, the topic was forgotten. "Look, in '46, the average life expectancy was 64, so I'm technically already living this question...."

* * *

"What is the greatest accomplishment in your life?"

Daniel hummed, sipping at his fourth Little Hug. "Ordinarily, I'd probably say making SHIELD. But seeing as I'm literally a man out of time, I think time travelling makes for a fair accomplishment." 

"Same," Daisy nodded. "Once you've seen the past, present, future _and_ space, there's nothing you can really do on an earthly plane that can top that. Barrel me?" She picked another card off of the wall, stretching a hand out for the barrel Daniel threw at her. "What do you value most in a friendship?" 

His answer was immediate. "Transparency. And loyalty, I guess." Daisy said nothing, only cocked her head as an invitation to continue. "I don't appreciate being jerked around or being kept out of the loop. And I like to be able to know who's got my back."

She chuckled. "Well, you would _not_ have liked Fury." 

"Who?" 

"Ask Coulson about it when we get out of here." So much hinged on _when_ they would get out of this shed turned safe house -- yet, despite their isolation, it was a welcome respite from all of the hectic action they'd been facing. Daisy couldn't remember the last time she'd simply gotten to sit down and banter back and forth with any of her teammates. "Man used to say it was better that no one had 100% of the plan." 

Daniel shook his head as if trying to rid the image from his head. "No," he said, and swigged the rest of his barrel. "What about you, then, Johnson? What do you value most in a friendship?" 

What _did_ she value most in a friendship? "I think you're right about the transparency," she said slowly, because she'd been lied to and betrayed more times than she could count. Things like that tended to give a girl trust issues. "Consistency, I think, too." She sighed, tossing her empty barrel in the direction of the trash can they'd set up by the TV stand. "I like being sure about things when it comes to people." 

"What sort of things?"

Daisy paused for a moment, wanting to make sure her words aligned. "Like being sure that Mack and I can sit in comfortable silence," she explained, "with him, I know I can just _be_. I don't have to explain myself or what I'm feeling. Or like, being sure that May shows she understands me by saying nothing. Or that when I run into things without thinking, I'll probably have Elena right next to me because she's the same way." 

"Things that you can depend on," Daniel translated, and she nodded. "What about me?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"We're friends, aren't we?" She wouldn't call time travelling and getting kidnapped regular pillars to forming friendships, but then again, she'd never really formed a friendship the normal way, either. "What's consistent about me?" 

"That you're consistent." Daniel frowned; he'd expected something along the line of a terrible sense of humor and even worse impressions of a man stuck out of time, but that was alright. "I'm the queen of inconsistency," Daisy told him, cracking open another barrel. "Nothing's been stable in my life since I was probably three years old." 

"That can't be true." He wondered just how many people had wronged Daisy Johnson throughout her years. "It seems like the team's been here for a while, haven't they?" 

The right corner of Daisy's mouth ticked up in a wry smile. "When May's ex-husband came back onto the scene, she took some time to be with him. I thought she wasn't going to come back. Elena, too, the first time she left us. She wanted to make a change closer to home. I can't tell you how many times Mack's threatened to quit -- once, we got trapped in some technological alternate universe by a robot, and when he found out his daughter was alive in it, he almost stayed in it instead of coming out. Simmons got sucked onto a different planet. Phil's died twice. We only picked Deke back up because he was using SHIELD tech to make a profit." Daniel's eyes were as wide as saucers. "And that's only the people you've _met_." 

"There's more?" 

She chuckled, more of a dark acknowledgement of remembrance than anything. "Oh, don't even get me started. I was in and out of foster homes more times than I could count. The first guy I was with -- Miles -- he sold out the team for a million dollars. Second guy, Ward? HYDRA traitor turned alien hive mind. You know the Howling Commandos?" Daniel nodded. "He had a grandson. Antoine. He died trying to save me from becoming Inhuman. Coulson tries... _tried_ to tell me it wasn't my fault, but hey." She shrugged, and he swore there was a slight tear in her eyes. "Once you're doused with it, the stench of guilt never really leaves you." 

"Was that everyone?" he asked, and Daisy let out a watery laugh -- oh, yeah, she was definitely going to cry in the next five minutes. 

"When I first got my powers, I met another Inhuman. His name was Lincoln," she began, and _god_ , it'd been so long since she'd thought about him. "He taught me what it was like to live as an Inhuman, how to work with my powers, how to live with myself and my mistakes. He died sacrificing himself to kill alien hive mind Ward. Again, people...people can tell you it's not your fault 'till they're blue in the face, but you're still gonna see his face in your nightmares and think it should've been you." The empty barrel in her hand was crushed, but she didn't even bother to chuck it, simply letting it fall out of her hand. "I've been everything from Quake the hero to the Destroyer of Worlds. Nothing ever stays the same. And I know it's selfish of me to want that. People change, and they deserve to do whatever will make them happy. I just wish they didn't have to _leave_ to do it." 

It was only then that she noticed he'd sat up and taken her hands, holding them as if they had the power to create life. Ironic, considering she'd just given him an entire spiel on how her M.O was destroying things. "Look, I've seen a lot of crazy things," Daniel offered. "Maybe not as crazy as you have, but more than anyone should. I'm a man out of time. I've got nowhere to go, and even if I _could_ , I'd have no idea where." 

"You intrigue me, Daisy Johnson," he murmured, and Daisy sniffled. "And as long as you'll have me, I wouldn't mind staying by your side." 

"That's what I like about you," she whispered. Faintly, the cold prick of a tear slid down her cheek, and she barely registered the sweeping warmth that was Daniel reaching to wipe it with his thumb, albeit somewhat awkwardly. "You keep staying." Despite the chances to -- she'd offered to let him off at every point during their time travelling adventures -- he'd opted to stay. It reassured her, somewhat, that he'd choose to stay regardless of what they offered him. That he'd choose to stay for _her_. 

Daniel shrugged, but his shoulders were heavy with the weight of the admission. "Like I said. Don't really have anywhere to go." He squeezed her hands gently. "But there's definitely been other reasons I chose to stay." It was only then he noticed how close they were: he could see the fresh tear tracks on Daisy's cheek, the smudge of red Little Hug on her upper lip. If he leaned in _just_ a bit, he'd be able to taste it, surely --

 _BANG. BANG._ "Sousa, Daisy, stand back from the doors!" Coulson's muffled voice called, and they barely had time to duck behind the couch before the door was blasted off of its hinges. "You guys okay?" he asked as the rest of the team filed in, Simmons immediately flittering to check on them. "Figured you two'd gotten tied up when you missed the rendezvous." 

"Shed locked on its own," Daniel offered, chancing a look at Daisy. Now that the team'd shown, she'd recovered somewhat, but amid her attempts to convince Simmons that she was 'fine, Jemma. Neither of us got hurt.', he heard her voice waver, shaky with the uncertainty of what happened next. 

It was fair, he supposed. Where _did_ you go next after basically vowing to remain beside someone who'd made an entire life of people leaving? He probably hadn't been the first person to make this promise, either. But, he mused as Elena remarked on the remaining cards on the wall and Daisy quipped back with the same sarcastic personality he was familiar with, he'd probably been the only one without any other ties to the world as it was. And that was going to be what made him different. 

It was going to be what made him _stay_. If there was anyone that deserved a consistent stayer, it was Daisy.

* * *

"Look, I didn't mean to go off on you in there." After a short but entertaining debriefing, most of the team had dispersed to their bunks, leaving Daisy and Daniel in the Zephyr kitchen. Both of them nursed off-white mugs of coffee, hers dolloped with cream and sugar but his straight black. "The questions were...well, they're meant to make you fall in love with someone," Daisy said, laughing a little. "And I'm sure you know as well as I do that in this line of work, that comes with a hell of a lot of emotional baggage." 

"What makes you think I didn't want to hear it?" Her fingers tightened around the mug's handle, and he shifted. "I meant everything I said in there. I _don't_ have anywhere to go, and given the choice, I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be." He turned, setting down his coffee in favor of holding his arms out for a hug. She gladly took it, and for a moment, it was like they were back in the shed, walls absent and no future to worry upon. "I've got you, Daisy Johnson. Now and however long you want me." 

Holding his breath, he pressed a slight kiss to her head, sighing in relief when she simply tightened her arms around him. "Even if you tip the Jenga tower over on purpose sometimes."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> If you liked this, I'm taking prompts from both [this list](https://justanalto.tumblr.com/post/622842304685834240/300-prompts) and [this list](https://justanalto.tumblr.com/post/623191689172058112/send-me-a-ship-and-one-of-these-and-ill-write-a)! If there's something you'd like to see, let me know! :)


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